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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I just wanted to tell you about the Secret Angel swap that I participated in over at Splitcoast Stampers. This was through the Wish RAK forum. The exchange is supposed to be a minimum of $20 plus shipping but those nice gals always load up the box with way more than that! I want to thank Lena of tackertwosome for hosting this exchange. She took the word CHRISTMAS and used it as an acronym of items that we were to send to our angel.
C- Card, our reveal card to tell who the secret angel is.
H-Holiday Brads
R-Ribbon
I-Imagination
S-Snowman
T-Tree Ornament
M-Mistletoe
A-Angel
S-Sweets
This is what I received from OILIN. The reveal card and tin of chocolates are missing from the photo. I had to eat some of the candy you know! There are stamps, stamps, and more stamps. Brads, brads and more brads! Lots of ribbon, ornaments, stickles, rub ons, 6x6 scrapbook, blank cards and envelopes. Can you believe everything she packed in the box? She is soooo awesome! Stop by SCS and consider joining RAK and then the WRAK forum. We will be having another exchange after the New Year! See you there.

Monday, December 28, 2009

If you have been following my blog, you know that for the last three years I have participated in a tag swap at SCS. Heidi began hosting this swap and I have been there since the begining. These were some of the tags I received from the swap and they were created by Heidi herself. You can catch her blog here if you have any questions about these little beauties! Stay tuned because in a few days I will show you some more of these beauties from the swap. Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

I made some birthday cards for people who have December birthdays. I wanted a holiday feel without using a holiday card. So many people lump birthday and Christmas together and those birthday people get short changed. This was the result.
Materials List:
Autmn Leaves Scroll Stamp (thanks OILIN)
SU! Toille Background Stamp, Happy Birthday Frame set and Flower of the Month set
SU! Gold embossing powder
Sakura Pen Touch gold paint pen
SU! Real Red,Yo Yo Yellow, Only Orange and Mellow Moss marker
SU! Hunter Green CS
The Paper Patch Scarlet Berry Toille DP
5x7 Ivory recycled paper card and envelope from craft store

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas may be over but I have a few more items to show you this week and next pertaining to the Christmas season. I was finally able to participate in a Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge. This is the last day to participate in this challenge so I will barely make it. We were to create a card using this sketch. This is my version and I am pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy it also. Thanks for stopping by!
Materials List:
SU! Holy Triptych Stamp Set
Sweet N Sassy 1055 Holiday Greetings
SU! Real Red CS
Supreme Gold Laminated CS (I picked this up in Ireland so I do not know if it is available in the US or Canada)
Paper StudioChristmas Green Mistletoe Paper
Spellbinders Die Cut-Fleur De Lis Pendant, Flower Botique Miniabilities, Large and small Ovals
SU! Large oval and Scallop oval punches
Gold Embossing Powder
Sakura PEN TOUCH gold metallic marker
SU! watercolor crayons
Deco Art gold glamour dust
3/8" sheer Black NWC 10-20 ribbon
The gold brads came from Marcos Paper in Ohio. They were in a zip bag without any info as to who manufactured them.

Friday, December 25, 2009

First let me say Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope that you are able to spend this day with your family/friends. I thought a birthday card would make an appropriate post since we are celebrating the birth of Christ today. I'll be quick about the post. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. This is a black and white birthday card that I made a few weeks back using glossy card stock. If you have never tried a black and white theme on glossy card stock then go to your craft room right now and do it! Okay, maybe not today but tomorrow. Just do it! It is so easy and so elegant that you really don't need to work very hard to get a nice result! I used the bella toille background stamp from SU! and black Stazon ink for the card base. The fleur de lis spellbinder die cuts were sent to me as a WRAK and I sponged a bit of black ink here and there. The sentiment was stamped on white CS and then Crystal Effects from SU! was used to create the shine on the sentiment. Now go make your own and thanks for stopping by today!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Hello all! I thought it would be nice to share a photo that was taken earlier this month at a local Christmas tree farm. The owner of this farm attends our church so we thought we would go out this year and continue a family tradition. After Adam and I were married, we would go out each year and cut our own tree at a local tree farm until one year (about three years later) the farm closed. : ( We moved around from place to place over the years and never cut our own tree again until this year. : ) We were so glad to find out about the tree farm! The owner started the farm about 20 years ago as a way to save money for his child's college years. Steve, the tree farmer is a forestry graduate who works for the neighboring county. The farm was a natural fit for him and keeps him busy in the spring maintaining the trees and again in December when families come and find the perfect Christmas tree. Steve told us that they now have three generations of families coming to the farm and to carry on a family tradition.
Adam and I are standing next to the tree that now stands on a table in our entry hall. Doesn't it look pretty with the snow on it? It snowed the night before so this was a perfect day for cutting a tree. This was the first time for our daughter to join us for this tradition. She was so excited when we told her of our plans! NOT! You know how teens are about these things. Anyway, we bundled up and took some mugs of coffee with us to keep us warm. On the way to the farm, we listened to Perry Como singing Christmas carols. Perry Como is a must and a tradition for us. In fact, it is DD favorite Christmas CD. In the end, DD enjoyed the day and maybe she will look forward to the event next year.

This photo is proof that DD was enjoying herself even if her Mom was standing there talking through pursed lips and saying "come on and grab the saw. Act like you're having fun and be quick about it!" Don't laugh, I know you have been in the same position.
Do you have Christmas traditions that you would like to share? Just leave me a comment and tell me about it. I might get some new ideas for more Christmas traditions to incorporate into our holiday for next year!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Nope! It is not April Fools and you are really seeing a pumpkin a few days before Christmas. I just hadn't had the time to show it to you until now. I also wanted to see if you were paying attention. Isn't it cute? I made a bunch of these in several shades of orange to use as table decorations for a luncheon back in November. I used them again on my Thanksgiving table!
1.Punch ten orange pieces of CS with the SU! round tab punch.
2. Stamp each tab with watermark ink and an appropriate patterned stamp.
3. Sponge the edges with orange ink the same shade of the CS or with a shade darker than the CS.
4.Score down the center of each tab and glue backs together to form a circle.
5. Cut a stem free hand and glue using a glue stick.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Today's post is all about creating a small quick gift to keep on hand. Maybe you need a hostess gift when you attend a Christmas party or you may need an inexpensive gift to give to coworkers. I think this project would fill those needs quite nicely!

This is a mini composition note book with a mini gel pen. It fits into my purse and is about the same size as my PDA. The directions are as follows:
1. Stamp main image on SU! smooth Very Vanilla card stock with brown Stazon ink.
2. Mask the main image and stamp over with a background script. I used the retired French Script stamp from SU!
3. Remove mask and heat set for a minute with a heat gun to dry the ink.
4. Color main image with vibrant colors. Any ink will do. I used pigment ink and heat set the image so it would dry more quickly. I didn't want to wait overnight and I didn't want to smear the image so the heat gun speeds up the process.
5. With alphabet stamps, create the word notes as the bottom.
6. Cut the image to the correct size so that the card stock will cover the entire front of the book. Sponge around the main image and around the edges of the paper with a lighter brown ink. I believe that I used SU! Creamy Caramel. Sponge a wider swath along the left side because you will cover part of it with black paper along the spine of the book.
7. Cut a piece of Vanilla card stock for the back. Stamp with a background stamp and sponge the edges.
8. Glue the front and back to the book and then trim the rounded corners to fit the book.
9. Cut black card stock to make the spine and cut slits so that ribbon will fit through. Slip the ribbon through the new spine and glue the ends down so that the spine will cover the raw edges. Next, glue the spine to the book. I leave the pen in the ribbon as I glue it down so that it is the right size.

That was the quick version so if you have additional questions, feel free to ask. I forgot to mention earlier that this would also make a nice gift to tuck into a small basket with some chewing gum, travel pack of tissue and a candy bar for someone in the hospital.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A few weeks ago I began experimenting with stamping on tumbled tile and this photo is a sample of what I came up with. I have purchased some larger square tiles that I would like to stamp as coasters, but thought it wise to start with these little babies to see how everything worked out before investing in the more expensive coaster tiles. I used Stazon ink in various colors to create these magnets and was pleased with the results. I purchased a one square foot sheet of tiles at a big box home improvement store for about $10. I looked for a sheet that contained a lot of smooth tiles. The greater the bubbles and flaws in a tile means there is less chance of stamping a clear impression. When dealing with tile this small, it makes a big difference in the quality of the finished product. Several tiles on my sheet have too many flaws for stamping a good impression, so I will use those for other projects. The sides of the tile was also stamped with a border. It isn't easy to see in this photo but this step finished the project off very nicely. This was such a quick and easy project that looks great! After stamping, I glued a heavy magnet to the back with E6000.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Spam has been driving me crazy with the same stinkin' messages so I made some changes to the comments form. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll now be moderating so these messages don't show up in every post! Thanks for your comments and visits!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Isn't this little tree adorable? I picked it up at a craft store and decided to decorate it for my Secret Angel exchange over at SCS Wish RAK. The rim of the pot was striped in red and white so I sanded it and repainted it. Then I embossed on the rim and the pot base. I used a bit of glitter and sealed it with a clear sealer. My Secret Angel has decorated her home with jewel tones so I found these cute little glass mini jewel toned ornaments. I then made some mini paper ornaments to go with the glass and added these icicle ornaments. A bit of gold ribbon loops here and there made a wonderful little garland. It finished things off except for the tree top.

I couldn't find an angel to fit the top that was the right proportion and that would stay balanced up there. In fact I didn't find a star or anything that would look right as a tree top! This was the most difficult part of the project. I resorted to taking a piece of chipboard and inking it up in Handsome Hunter and sealing it with crystal effects. The chipboard was a flower design with an open center so I just placed it over the top of the tree and fit well. Next I glued down the glass angel with crystal effects to the top of the chipboard. Then I used a bit of mini leaf and pine cone garland ribbon to drape around the base of the angel. It turned out well and is now stable enough to sit at the top of the tree.We were supposed to include mistletoe in our swap and I had a terrible time finding something that would work and looked pretty. I finally found a few mistletoe picks at a craft store. Then I had to figure out a way to incorporate it into one of the projects that I made. After a bit of thinking, I decided to use it with this tree. I took a few of the tips off of the pick and glued them at the base of the tree. I hope my Angel likes it. Thanks for stopping by!P.S. before you ask about the paper ornaments, the answer is yes! They took a long time to make. Especially the itty bitty ones! I used the boho blossom punch with the snow flake images in the Christmas Punch set from SU! I used my glue pad to stamp the image and then sprinkles glitter over the images.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I made a bunch of these tags and slipped a few of them in the Christmas card that I showed you in the last post. I couldn't resist since they matched the card! The colors are Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue and confetti CS from SU!. The stamp and small tag punch were also from SU! The large tag was a die cut that I borrowed and I think it was from Sissix. You see, every now and then I do make some quick and simple projects! Enjoy!

Monday, December 7, 2009

.I think this is the only Christmas card that I have made so far this year. I shipped it with my SCS Wish RAK secret angel gift. I hope she like it! I have been so busy making anything but cards for gifts that I haven't had time to make more Christmas cards. Each year I think I am to the point where I can make all of my cards to send out and each year I don't get to it. There are just too many other things that need my attention this time of year. I think I will need to work on Christmas cards throughout the year in order to have them ready for next year.Do you recognize that shiny paper? It's the same paper from here, here, here and here. Yes, I know that I am using it often. But it is so much fun to work with. Yesterday, I used it on another project.I can't help it! This paper just calls my name while it glares at me! It's the best two bucks that I have spent in quite a while. I ran this paper through the Cuttle Bug with the Allegro embossing folder. Then I stamped the snowflakes with SU! White Craft Ink and the snowman in SU! Bashful Blue. The stamp set that I used is called Christmas Punch from SU!. The Merry Christmas stamp came from Heart and Soul Rubber. For those of you that don't own any Heart and Soul rubber, I have just one thing to say. You are really missing out! I use a lot of these stamps for the inside of my cards. In case you missed my ravings about this company, you can find that post here.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

This is a 6 ounce almond can from Blue Diamond Almonds that I reused for my Secret Angel. I needed a box that could hold some wrapped chocolate candy and this fit the bill perfectly. Let me begin by saying that I used Tacky Tape to adhere the paper to the can and to the plastic lid. That stuff works great!All materials are from SU! except for the Pearl embossing powder and the vellum paper on the lid. Now you are wondering where those products came from and it's not so simple. The embossing powder was given to me and was not in the original container. I suspect that it might be ultra fine powder from Ranger. The vellum was cut several years ago from a pack I used up long ago except for some of these cut outs. Any light weight vellum would work just fine. I stamped the skaters and colored them with markers. Then I clear embossed over the image so I could stamp the tree images. A bit of sponging and brayering made quick work of the background. Add a little glitter and white gel pen for highlights and voila! A lowly tin is transformed into a simple gift box! Ihope this inspires you to pull out some alterable items and go to work.

Friday, December 4, 2009

I wanted to show you a quick and simple gift tag that you can make if you get overwhelmed with the Christmas rush and need a little me time in the craft room. It is made entirely with punched images except for the carrot nose. I cut those out free hand. The hat band was made with the SU! word window punch but I cut it down to make a shorter window to fit the size of my snowmen. A little black ink, a white gel pen and some crystal effects is all it takes to complete this project. If you wanted to take a bit more time, some highlight on the hat and a sprig of holly would be cute. I just had an idea! How about a little scarf to go with it? Maybe the word window punch and the modern label punch would work with a little finagling.

I just want to add a note about the post yesterday. I was asked about the adhesive I used for the project because many adhesives don't stick well to plastic. I should have mentioned that I used Tacky Tape by Provo Craft. Sticky strip and Scor tape work the same way.
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to craft with the kids during this blessed holiday season.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hello crafters! I have been very busy in the craft room gearing up for Christmas. I would have posted some projects sooner but I have had the pleasure of enjoying visits from family and friends. Those special visits are always bonus at holiday time so I took some time out to enjoy seeing everyone. One of those recent visitors was my college buddy from Ohio State. She gave me these blue containers back in July when I was in Ohio visiting with her. She knows I work with a lot of crafts and asked me if I could use them. I thought that I could do something with them so I stashed them in a drawer. You know the drawer I'm talking about don't you? The one that is overflowing with items waiting to be altered! It's so full that something always get stuck during mid pull of trying to open the drawer. Yes, I thought you had one too!Do you have any idea what these little babies housed during their first life? The boxes are about 3 by 3 1/4 inches in size. They are about 1/2 an inch thick and have a flip top. Did you figure it out yet? I never would have guessed it either. Three pills for migraine headaches come in the boxes. Who would have thunk that I would be using them this Christmas to house gift certificates and gift cards?This one was made as part of a box of gifts for my secret angel over at SCS Wish RAK. I hope she likes it! I used SU! Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue and Brilliant Blue ink with the Christmas Punch Stamp set. It was simple and easy!I hope you can drop in often. I have a lot of holiday things to show you. Thanks for stopping by!

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